For Love or Friendship
by Angelina Sparrow
Summary: With a new order to take the Archeron as a disguise and get replacement men immediately, Aubrey does so in the same day. Later, Maturin finds out a secret about one of the crew that could ruin the balance of the ship and maybe his friendship with Aubrey.
1. Prissy Pentock

FOR LOVE OR FRIENDSHIP

Author's Note: This takes place after the movie. I'm in the process of reading the actual book series by Patrick O'Brien, but I'm not far enough to see if any history I use besides what's from the movie is true. Work with me. Also, I know the first chapter really goes absolutely nowhere, I just want to establish the weirdness of the new crewman, that's all. And one more thing, I know the first couple lines are form a different movie, just a little addition from another one of my favorite Jacks!

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CHAPTER 1: "PRISSY" PENTOCK

"Stop blowing holes in my ship." Captain Jack Aubrey whispered as another cannon ball grazed the side of the _Archeron_ in disguise. Obviously, the French had figured out that it was a disguise. "Bloody Frenchmen." Aubrey muttered. At least these weren't very accurate shot; only his sail had a hole in it and one man had gotten a musket ball in his ribs. He was a new man, an odd one actually. He was a very modest man who kept to himself and slung his hammock away in the corner for the other men's. Aubrey thought he might have made a mistake with that one. Oh well, no loss if he didn't make it, the men didn't seem to be very fond of him as well, even the ones Aubrey had hired with him.

Aubrey had put in to port, only to get immediate orders to find enough seamen to make up for his loss and to shove off in disguise on the _Archeron_ to stop another member of the French fleet in western waters. He had found his men and left in a single day and now they had found the ship but weren't making much headway in taking her.

"Cease fire!" Aubrey shouted. "We'll try a different approach! Cease fire!"

Aubrey turned to Bonden, his trusted Coxswain. "Change our course due East. We'll try to come up from another angle and surprise her."

"Aye. Due East, sir." Bonden heaved on the wheel and the ship slowly but surely turned east.

"All hands!" Aubrey shouted. "Report below deck in five minutes time!"

Aubrey drew the crew together five minutes later and explained his course of action, they had to be stealthy – _Surprise_ wasn't on their side now. The men laughed, trying to feel at ease about this new undertaking.

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Meanwhile, Stephen Maturin, the ship's surgeon was with the man who had gotten shot. He had regained consciousness and was talking.

"Sir, does it need surgery?"

"I'm afraid so lad, the bullet's still in there."

"Well, can you do it alone?"

"For heaven's sake why?"

"Can you?"

"I suppose, but why?"

"Just because sir."

Maturin eyed the man. "Fine, lad, I'll operate alone."

"Good. Thank you, doctor."

The man fell asleep as Maturin's drug took effect. Maturin found the man's request odd, but he had heard stories about this one. The men said he was different. Reserved and modest, not what an actual seaman usually was.

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The man was a Mr. Pentock. Or "Prissy Pentock" as the rest of the men called him. Often they would laugh as he kept his things in perfect order and always get up early to dress and wash up. The men took this as a sign of him thinking himself better than them and took offense to him.

"You ain't a lass, are ya? Ya sure act stuck up enough!" They had laughed.

"You aren't polite are you?" He replied back and disappeared into his hammock to read.

"Ah, we was just jokin'! Geeze, ya don't have to be getting' like that!" One called, but Pentock didn't answer him.

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"Jack, the man is very different." Stephen said as Jack paced the floor beating a tempo with his bow. The subject of Mr. Pentock had been brought up when Jack inquired as to the condition of him. Stephen explained that he was to operate tomorrow and no one, not even Jack was to be there by request of the patient.

"Clearly the man needs to learn his place in the crew. And if that means they have to beat it into him, I'd gladly provide the whip."

"Maybe he just isn't cut out for life at sea. Let him get used to it before anyone beats anyone else."

"Stephen, he doesn't want anyone there when he's getting operated on! Don't you think that's a bit stuck up?"

"Well, I find it inconsiderate enough, but I'll have to get along."

"You aren't serious, Stephen? You aren't going to let him walk all over you like that?" Jack slammed his bow on his desk.

"I don't think I'm going to let you talk to me like that, Jack Aubrey! I'll see to his health, you see to his character! Now, are you going to pick a tempo, or am I?" Stephen demanded, a small twinkle in his eyes showing that he wasn't truly angry.

"I will, if I'd have some time to actually collect my thoughts, Stephen Maturin." Jack shot back with a laugh.

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	2. Pentock's Secret

Author's Note: Again I apologize for the horribleness of the first chapter. This is finally getting into the story and I'm very happy to present the big reason for Pentock's weirdness!!!!....But wait! I can't tell you, you'll have to read it for yourself! Mwahahaha, I'm so evil! Also, thanks to some reviews confirming my gut feeling, I've reworked this chapter to make it longer. Go me!

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CHAPTER 2: PENTOCK'S SECRET

The next morning, Maturin awoke and readied himself for the surgery. He laid out all the tools and took a deep breath, clearing his mind. He was on his own on this one. No one there to help save the man if he started slipping away. Maturin brought Pentock in to the table. He was light from a new life at sea and from the blood loss.

Maturin wetted a cloth with a liquid he used to put his patients under for a little while and held it over Pentock's nose. He drifted into a deep sleep.

Unbuttoning the thin sailor's shirt, Maturin opened it to find cotton lengths bound around Pentock's chest. Was he wounded already? Maturin wondered. He decided to dislodge the bullet first and then investigate the binding.

After easily extracting the bullet, Maturin stitched the open wound up and tied a length of cotton around Pentock's stomach to keep it from becoming irritated by the shirt cloth.

Next, he took up one of the knives on the table and slit the top layer of cloth. Layer by layer, Maturin pulled away the binding. It seemed to be very tight and that took Maturin by surprise.

A little while later the last few layers were all that was left and Maturin was beginning to wonder just what was under them. Letting the last piece of cloth fall away, Maturin gasped and quickly pulled the shirt back on. Aubrey hadn't picked himself up and able-bodied sea man, he had picked himself up an able-bodied sea _woman_!

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Later that day, Pentock awoke and called for the doctor.

Maturin stepped through the door and fixed her with a stern look. "I suppose this was why you wanted me to operate alone, hm?" he asked, holding up some of the cloth.

She nodded. "Yes, sir, that's why."

"You know I could alert the captain to this. You could be flogged or worse."

"I know, but please, Mr. Maturin, don't tell him! This is how I want to live my life."

"But why? You could be back on land making a wife of some man and manning a household."

"That's why. I don't want to do that."

Maturin shook his head and threw the cut cotton strips in her lap and walked to the door.

"Wait, sir."

"What?"

"Promise not to tell?"

"You know I shouldn't be doing anything of the sort. I serve Captain Aubrey as a crewmember and a friend, I can't lie to him."

"Please?"

"Alright."

She brightened and Maturin couldn't help seeing her in a new light and noticing how pretty she must have been with long hair and properly cleaned up.

"Thank you." She said as he left the room.

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At dinner that night, Aubrey noticed that Maturin was being very quite and barely eating his food.

"Stephen, what ails you? You haven't touched hardly anything. Does our cook's food repulse you so that you won't touch it?"

Maturin looked up and smiled forcedly. "Oh no, I just don't have an appetite tonight, that's all."

"Not like you, Stephen. You usually have two and three plates." the 2nd lieutenant, Thomas Pullings remarked with a laugh, receiving one from the rest of the men around the table as well.

Maturin gave a small smile and got up from the table. "If you'll excuse me men, Captain."

"Excused." Aubrey said.

Maturin nodded and left the cabin.

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Soon enough Pentock, or as Maturin learned, Anna, recovered from the bullet and went back on duty, but every so often, she would visit Maturin and do small things like organize his collection of books and letters for his keeping her secret.

"Stephen, why do you keep such things?" Anna asked upon first seeing a collection of insects mounted behind glass. She peered in and each bug fixed her with a beady dead stare.

"Because that is what I study." He replied curtly, taking the box from her and looking in himself.

Anna couldn't help but shiver at what else she might find in this room. "Just before I begin tidying up, please tell me if you have any other..._dead_ things lying around, Stephen."

He laughed and tossed a rag to her. "Not yet."

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As the weeks progressed, Anna shared her knowledge and antics with Maturin and became very close with the doctor. She seemed to enjoy having someone to talk freely to. Maturin seemed to just enjoy her company.

After she left one day after cleaning around the cabin, Maturin rose from his desk and picked up the rag she had been using. He fingered it thoughtfully and imagined her smile from under that boy-cut brown hair. He smiled to himself and gave a soft laugh.

He walked back to his desk and opened a drawer and put the rag inside, and then sat back down to resume his work.

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Aubrey mulled over his friend's actions after he left the table that one night in an odd mood. He resolved to find out what was bothering his best friend. But, he couldn't ask him outright. But what could he do?

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Maturin worked by candlelight each night, far into the late hours of the watch. Many nights he found his mind wandering back to Anna. He wished he could see her more than the few odd times he was able to. She could teach him so much about things he had left behind when agreeing to set sail with Aubrey.

Many nights he found he couldn't finish his work and he went to bed early for his standards, but could not fall asleep. She was there in his cabin, everything reminding him of her. He couldn't figure out what was happening to him.

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"Pentock, get those ropes straightened out or ten lashes when you come down!" Aubrey yelled.

'That man,' he thought. 'Needs some adjustment to the ways of ship life.' Aubrey had heard from the rest of his crew how Pentock seemed above everyone else, and Jack did not want that. Proud airs led to mutiny.

"Jack, no." Stephen had heard him and his heart skipped a beat at the thought.

"What? I've never had my best friend question me before." Jack said. "Stephen, what has been bothering you?"

Maturin wanted to make a curt comment back, but held his tongue. "Nothing."

"You're not the same Stephen Maturin I became friends with. Something has changed."

"Maybe I've had my eyes opened." Stephen said, storming off. He knew he shouldn't have said that, he didn't even know what he had meant by that. Entering his cabin, he slammed the door behind him.

Aubrey stood and watched his friend leave in silence. There was definitely something wrong with Stephen and now more than ever, he was going to find out what.

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Stephen sat at his desk in a huff, muttering things like "He can't lash her." "Just a frail girl." He opened his drawer to get a quill and stopped when he saw the rag. He took it out and laid it across the desk.

Maturin sat and contemplated the cloth for a few moments, memories of Anna flashing through his mind.

"Why am I like this? I have never raised my voice to Jack except when I first met him. Now I'm finding hid views all wrong. Especially those that he has about 'Pentock'." He imitated Jack. "'Straighten those ropes or ten lashings when you come down!' 'Clearly the man needs to learn his place!'" He sighed and put his head down.

Maturin fell asleep. In his dream, he saw a burning ship. It looked exactly like the _Archeron_. The crew was working and everyone functioning like they didn't see the flames. Jack was yelling orders, not noticing that his hat was burning on the tips. He yelled to Pentock, who turned and looked. Maturin saw the lash, wielded by an invisible hand, striking Anna. Maturin felt himself running. He climbed the ropes and grabbed the whip, it was hot in his hands, and he let it drop. Anna slumped in the rigging and Maturin made his way to her. He caught her just as she was about to fall and smiled at her. She smiled back. "You said you didn't have anything else dead yet, maybe you will soon." She closed her eyes and Maturin felt the blood from the lashes wet his fingers. "Anna, no." he called, "Anna, stay here. Anna, I love you..."

Maturin woke up in a cold sweat, whispering his last words in the dream. "Anna, I love you..." He looked around. That was odd. He wondered if he himself hadn't contracted something because it wasn't like him to have strange dreams.

"Anna, I love you..." he whispered again. This was crazy. He put his hand to his forehead. "I think I'll find something to help with my sleep." he said, getting up and leaving the rag out on his desk.

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End file.
